Poster :18” x 24” poster version of hand painted image of the iconic “pubs” and landmarks in the town of Mackinac Island, MI.

Also available in…Print : 12″ x 18″ same image with a white border.

The son of a preacher man …

Brian McKelvey was handed a pencil in exchange for his silence on an unusually quiet church day when he was two, and has been drawing ever since…

McKelvey excelled in the arts throughout college graduating with a Bachelors degree in Landscape Architecture from Michigan State University but still spending most of his days drawing commissioned works of art and estate portraits…It began to be clear that a 9-5 corporate gig would not be in the cards for this kid.

In the summer of 96′ he released his first limited edition prints of historic Mackinac Island.

After a brief escape from the Michigan winters on the beaches of San Diego for four years, where he met the “Cleaner” – Jeff Kane, McKelvey returned home in the beginning of the new millennium from his hiatus to start a series of downtown Michigan scenes which incorporated landmarks and local businesses in a vertically “stretched” version of the town. Beginning to make a name for himself around the state, Brian continued to create realistic charactures of the cities and towns of the Great Mitten State. In 2007 as an inside joke between friends and family McKelvey created a scene incorporating ONLY pubs to represent a town, and that town was none other than East Lansing, Michigan, home of the Michigan State University Spartans. Posters were created for the first time as well as prints and on Saint Patrick’s Day 2007 pubsOf was born!

What followed was a crazy ride that started with the opening of his first Gallery “Street Scenes by Brian McKelvey” on Mackinac Island. During a two year period patrons from all over the Midwest came to visit bringing their own vision of their college towns to his door making it official that McKelvey was going to tackle the “Big Ten Pubs.” Retail and island life was fun but it was time to hit the road again… The first target outside of the state was Minneapolis which proved to be a successful if not cold venture. This was quickly followed up by Madison, West Lafayette, Iowa City, Bloomington and the amazingly “pubworthy” Wrigleyville. After countless art shows and road trips and college towns the pubsOf brand is slowly but surely blazing a trail across the country from Seattle to Miami to New York and the world bringing the idea that a college town can be captured by it’s memories and it’s memories are made in the pubs, restaurants, coffee shops, and local dives everywhere…

Brian has begun to show signs of a recluse, but if you see him on the streets of your town carrying a large picture please feel free to say hi and tell him your favorite pub. For he still does what he does for you the people and he “brings it” every time. Whether it’s SEC, ACC, Big Ten, Big 12, down south in the Everglades, or waaaay up north on the frozen tundra there are pubs and where there are pubs – there is pubsOf.